The Supreme Court allowed New Mexico on Monday to block a man from holding any office by ruling he was part of an insurrection due to his participation in the mob assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Couy Griffin, a former county commissioner, had asked the justices to overturn the state’s ruling, but the high court rejected his petition without comment.
New Mexico had used the 14th Amendment to bar him from office — the same amendment that some states had tried to use to keep former President Donald Trump off their ballots this year.
The justices ruled against the states in the case of Mr. Trump, finding that states cannot use the 14th Amendment to shape the candidates eligible for federal office such as the presidency. But the justices had said states are free to police their own elected offices under the 14th Amendment.
Mr. Griffin, who founded Cowboys for Trump, was convicted of trespassing for his involvement in the mob attack. He was sentenced to time served of 14 days.
A state judge, citing the conviction and Mr. Griffin’s “leadership role” in urging on the crowd, ruled him ineligible to hold office on the Otero County Commission, kicked him out of the job and barred him from any future office.
Experts said it marked the first time in more than 150 years that a court had used the 14th Amendment, written in the wake of the Civil War, to disqualify someone from office.
Mr. Griffin appealed but lost at the New Mexico Supreme Court.
He then appealed to the U.S. justices, arguing that the state didn’t have the authority to bar him from all future offices, that the court’s ruling trampled on his First Amendment rights and that the events of Jan. 6 weren’t an insurrection.
“At best, the trial court’s findings were sufficient to conclude that Mr. Griffin engaged in a riot intended to create a disturbance or a civil commotion,” Peter Ticktin, his lawyer, told the justices in asking them to take the case.
Mr. Griffin’s opponents pointed to his own words saying the goal of the mob assault was to deny President Biden the White House as evidence the goal was insurrection.
The opponents, New Mexico citizens who brought the original lawsuit that ousted Mr. Griffin, also told the U.S. Supreme Court that he had violated several judicial rules with his appeal petition and they argued the case should be tossed on those grounds alone.
After Monday’s ruling, Mr. Griffin took to social media to suggest that former President Donald Trump consider him as a vice-presidential pick.
“Would be such an honor to only be considered,” he posted on X.
He also complained about what happened after his removal last year, saying it allowed Democratic Gov. Michele Lujan Grisham to appoint his replacement, and she picked a fellow Democrat who had repeatedly lost elections for county commissioner.
“Such a disgrace,” Mr. Griffin posted.
Activists had tried to use the 14th Amendment against other Trump supporters, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia and former Rep. Madison Cawthorn in North Carolina. Ms. Greene won her case, while Mr. Cawthorn’s case became moot after he lost a primary in 2022.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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